In tomorrow's AJC I have a review of South Main Kitchen , Alpharetta's newest hot spot. It provides a much-needed, chef-driven neighborhood hangout to add to Alpharetta's growing collection of restaurants in its historic downtown revival.

Chef Christy Stone helms the kitchen, where she peppers the food with those sweet touches that betray her baking background. Fruit garnishes, salsas and reductions are incorporated repeatedly throughout the menu.

Guests cotton to the cooking, as they do to the restaurant experience. Inside South Main Kitchen, completely outfitted in wood reclaimed from an old mill, you’ll feel as though you’ve crawled into the womb of a secret tree house.

Try items like the red snapper, topped with an orange salsa and a tiny twirl of blood-orange sauce contrasting the well-salted, expertly crisped skin. Stone’s approach mostly hits the mark, only occasionally straying into the no-go Candyland. For example, the scallops, engulfed in a syrupy blood-orange glaze and served with a sweet-scented carrot puree, could stand a little reworking.

I predict that we’ll continue to see the restaurant scene come alive in downtown historic Alpharetta. The locals are already sweet on South Main Kitchen. As they should be.

I gave it a grade of 2 stars.

Read the full review on myajc.com .

--by Jenny Turknett, Atlanta Restaurant Scene blog